Mower attachment.



M. o. BECKNER.v

MOWEB ATTACHMENT.

A APPLICATION man luLY n. 19u

WITN ESS ES TTORN EY III. o. BLCKIIIEII.

NIOWER ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JULY IIl 1917.

Patented 00L 1,1191@ 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 I I //d l LESQQIBTBI,

TMWNESSES ATTOHNIEV MATTHEW o. BECKNER, or Roanoke, VIRGINIA.

MOWER ATTACHMENT.

readers. l

To all whom it may concern: j

Be it known that I, MATTHEW O. BECK- NER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Roanoke, in the county of Roanoke and lState of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mower Attachments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to agricultural machines, 'and the primary object is to provide an attachment for a motor vehicle whereby to support various agricultural machines such as mowers, binders, rakes, drills or the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide an attachment of the character above described embodying means for permitting adjustment thereof to adapt the same to support various machines and to permit vertical adjust-ment of the attachment toward and away from the ground.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved mowing machine designed especially for association with my attachment to a motor vehicle, and embodying means whereby the mower may be driven directly by the prime mover of the vehicle,

and means to raise the mower from the ground when the same is not in use or to avoid. obstacles in the field.

In addition to the 'foregoing my invention comprehends improvements inthe details of construction, and arrangement of the parts to be hereinafter more fully described and at particularly set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which similar andoorresponding parts are designated by the same characters of. reference throughout the several views in which they ap ear: v

igure 1, is a view in plan of my attachment and mowing machine illustrating the same sup orted upon the forward end of a motor ve icle.` t

Fig. 2, is a view in side elevation of the devices of the preceding ligure.

F ig. 3, is a transverse'section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1. y y

Fig. 4, is a transverse .section taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 1. j

- With reference to Ithe drawings, indicates the forward/ ortion of a motor vehicle members of the chassis thermf.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led July 11, 1917. Serial No. 179,967.

rammed ont., i, iam.

- 14 which are extended transversely of the vehicle in parallelism and in spaced relation and connected at their ends by end bars 15' which project forward beyond the forward bar 14 as indicated at 1G. The end bars 15 are each provided with a series of longitudinally spaced perforations 17. rlhe frame is supported from the vehicle by means of rods 18 which extend through openings in thc frame bar 13 and which are formed on one of their ends with circular enlargements 19 having their adjacent faces serrated as at 20 for engagement with similar faces of a coact-ing member 21 which is secured to the side of the frame bar 11 ofthe vehicle. Bolts 22 penetrate the enlargement and inem- Ibers 2l to secure the coacting members against relative movement subsequent to adjustment. It will thus be seen that the frame l2 is capable of vertical adjustment toward and away from the ground. A pair of coil springs 23 are encircled about the rods 18 and are disposed to bear against the front and rear faces of the bar 13 and at their opposite ends against heads 211 formed on said rods and collars 25, whereby to cushion shocks that may be received by the frame 12 duringuse thereof. Illhev forward ends of the extensions are securedto extension bars 26 which are formed with apertures 27 whereby bolts 28 may be extended through registering openings 17 and 27 to hold the extension bars to said extensions 16. It will be apparent that the extension bars may be adjusted so as to lengthen. or shorten the frame 12 and to thereby adapt the same to the support of various kinds of machinery. The-forward ends of the extension bars 16 are provided with sockets 29 to receive the shanks30 of supporting wheels 31 which are journaled in members 32 swiveled to the lower ends of the shank. A ball bearing connection 33 s provided between the Shanks 30 and members 32.

lt will be apparent .that the forward end of the attachment frame may thus be supported upon the ground, and the attalvlment attachment frame and the wheels of the rake may -be removed as the frame of the rake may be entirely supported by the attachment frame. Similarly, other wheel supported agricultural machines may be bolted to 1n attachment frame and operated in a satis *actory manner.

l have, however, illustrated a novel form of mower which is designed especially for attachment to my frame and comprises a relatively stationary bar 35 which is extended transversely of the vehicle and is placed upon the attachment frame adjacent the rear end thereof and may be secured thereto by bolts 36 adapted to enter openings in the bar and which are formed with hooked terminals 37 which engage around the end bars 15 and 14 of the attachment frame. A mov-v able frame bar 38 is provided parallel to the bar 35 and hingedly connected thereto at its ends by means of hinges 39. Side bars 40 project forwardly from the ends of the bar- 38, and are connected at their forward ends by means of a sickle bar 41 provided with lingers 42. A cross bar 43 is extended between the side bars 40 parallel to the bar 38 and in spaced relation thereto. The upper surfaces of the bars 38 and 43 are formed with recesses 44 which are bridged by means of plates 45 thereby forming a guide for a block 46 which is slidably mounted in the recesses and held against displacement by means of said plates. rllhe block 46 is formed with a pairof upstanding lugs 47, and the central upstanding lug 48.

A pair of levers 49 are fulcrumed as at 50 upon the side bars 40 of the mower frame' and are provided upon their forward ends with pins 51 which depend into slots 52 formed in the ends of a cutter bar 53 which is superposed upon the sickle bar. The sickle bar is provided with a longitudinally extending groove 54 in its upper face in which to receive a rib 55 formed on the under side of the cutter bar whereby to insure parallel'movement of the cutter bar" relative lto the sickle Ibar. 'llhe cutter bar is held in place by means of til-shaped clamps 56 which engage over the cutter bar and are secured to the sickle bar. The rear ends of the levers 49 are apertured to receive rods 57 which extend toward each other and have their adjacent ends secured to the u'pstanding lugs .47 of the sliding block 46. Nuts 58 are engaged upon the threaded terminals of the Leaders rods 57 to bear against the outer sides of the levej and to provide for adjustment. A shaft 9 is journaled in bearings 60 secured to the bars 35 and 38 said shaft being formed preferably in sections connected by a universal joint 6l which is located in a plane passing through the center of movement of the hinges which connect said bars and 38. Thevforward end of the shaft is offset as at 62 to form a crank which is connected by means of a rod 63 with the lu 48 of the sliding block 46. A. sprocket wieel 64 is secured to the shaft, and a chain 65 is passed around said sprocket and a sprocket wheel 66 secured to one end of a longitudinally extending shaft 67 journaled at its forward end in a bearing 68 mounted on the bar 35, the other end of the shaft having a socket (S9 adapted for engagement with the crank shaft of the engine of the vehicle. A universal joint 70 is located in said shaft and disposedl in a plane which passes through the joints which connect the attachment frame to the vehicle frame.

During forward travel of the vehicle the power of the engine thereof is transmitted through the shaft 67 to the shaft 59 by means of the chain and sprocket connection. Rotation of the shaft 59 imparts a reciproca-tory movement to the block 46 which is communicated to the. levers 49, oscillating the same so as to reciprocate the cutter bar 53 back and forth. lt will be noted that in either direction of reciprocation of the cutter bar the strain thereon is tensional and not compression asin the case of'means heretofore provided for reciprocation of cutter bars, thereb preventing buckling of the cutter bar. he nuts 58 lmay be tightened so as to place the cutter bar under strain by reason of the levers acting to pull upon the cutter bar in opposite directions thereby forming a parallelogram defined by the cutter bar, the levers 49 and the rods 57.

Themower frame may be adjusted vertically or raised upon the hinges 39 by means of a lever 71 which is fulcrumed at one end in a bracket 72 mounted o'n the bar 35, the lever being connected by means of a pair of links 73 to a bracket 74 mounted on the cross bar 43. A rod 75 may be entended rearward from the lever to a point adjacent the drivers seat and. connected to a lever whereby said lever 71 may be moved to raise or lower the mower frame. To retain the mowerl frame in raised position a ratchet bar 76is pivotally connected to the lever 7l for. engagement with a vertical extension 77 of the bracket 72.

lWhile l have illustrated and described my invention with some' degree of particularity, ll'realize that in practice'various alterations thereover may be made, and ll therefore desire lto reserve the right and privilege 4of changing the form of the details of conlllllll lllltl rat n mettere struction, or otherwise altering the arrangement of the correlative parts without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus describedmy invention what l claim as new and desire to secure by lietters Patent is 1. In a motor vehicle the lcombination of an attachment including a frame, mea'ns pivotally connecting the frame to the forward ends of the side frame members of the chassis of the vehicle, extension bars adjustably connected to the frame for adjustment in a forward or rearward direction, and wheels mounted on said extensions 'to support the frame upon the ground.

2. In a motor vehicle the combination of an attachment including a frame, rearwardly extending bars mounted in the frame, means pivotally connecting the rear ends of said bars to the forward end of the side frame members of the vehicle chassis, extension bars adjustably connected to the frame for adjustment in a forward or rearward direction, and supporting means for the forward end of the frame including brackets secure-d to the extensions, standards for engagement in the brackets, rollers mounted in the standards and meanson the brackets for engaging the standards to retain the samein adjusted position, thereby permitting vertical adjustment of the frame toward and away from the ground.

3. An attachment to motor vehicles, in-

cluding a frame, a pair of parallel bars mounted for sliding movement therein, a pair of coil springs encircling each bar to engage opposite sides of the frame to resist 'movement of the bars relatively to the frame in either direction, enlargements on the free terminals of the bars having serrated faces, and members adapted for attachment to the frame bars of the chassis of the vehicle having serrated faces for coaction with the faces of the enlargement, and means for securing said enlargements to the serrated members to permit vertical adjustment of the frame and to retain the frame in adjusted position.

4. An attachment to motor vehicles, including a frame, means for pivotally connecting the frame to the vehicle for vertical adjustment, a bar mounted upon the frame, means for releasably connecting the bar to the frame, a second bar, means for hingedly connecting the second bar to the first, a frame mounted on the second bar, extension bars carried by the second mentioned frame, for adjustment to vary the length of the frame, and an agricultural machine 1tgttachment mounted between said extension ars.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

MATTHEW O. RECHNER.

Witnesses:

M. E. JONES, WM. ZEAMAN. 

